Harald is a little over a year old greyhound boy who is a hobby friend for the Greyhound track race There are also other greyhounds in Harald's family who have started their racing careers successfully. In October he had a bad accident and as a result Harald had to undergo surgery for some broken blood vessels and a partially ruptured Achilles tendon. The prognosis for recovery was very unclear as tendon injuries in particular are treated worse than average and in Ireland, for example, a tendon accident almost automatically ends a dog's racing career. Tendons also have a slow metabolism which slows down the healing process, normally racing dogs need about four months of rehabilitation depending on the severity of the injury. A partially torn tendon is always weaker after healing.
When I became aware of Black Balance, we immediately started an intensive course for Harald so that the inflammation would subside and the healing would progress. Harald had to rest in a cage and we went to the orthopedist every week to change the splints and bandages.
I started walking Harald a few times a day with short steps on the leash, and the length of the journey increased by a few hundred metres as the day wore on. The rapid healing of Harald's leg and tendon meant that after three weeks the splints were no longer needed and we were able to learn how to use the leg, initially Harald had to bend his toes because of the splint where the tendon was at rest. Pretty soon though he learned to use his leg again and the progress amazed the nurses and orthopedic surgeon at check-ups.
Last week we got permission to run Harald free for a short time in the stadium where I go to train runners in the winter. Harald was so happy to be free to run and didn't really know what to do. I believe that Black Balance helped Harald's recovery and rehabilitation because the progress in less than seven weeks has been amazing. These promises that Harald will still get to show his claws on the race tracks next year.
Miska-Alexander Argillander
is currently probably the only trainer who has won two World Championship gold medals in greyhound cross-country running with two different breeds :-)